Editing

There are three stages of editing, so be sure to let me know which one(s) you have in mind when you reach out. We can also bundle these stages or create a plan together that will work for you and your book.

Developmental editing will include everything under Assessment (detailed above), but we’ll work on the big structural changes together. This often involves more back and forth: I’ll send you the assessment; we’ll discuss the proposed changes; you work on the structural edits; then I’ll reread the manuscript to see if the developmental edits worked. This service is recommended for those who might want more feedback and dialogue during this editing stage.

Line editing will include a customized Style Sheet, a reference for you that tracks style, usage, and other consistency concerns. This is in addition to all the edits detailed below (for either American or British English)—all while retaining your voice.

• Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors

• Clarify and tighten awkward/unclear phrasing

• Edit for flow, pacing, and transitions in the narrative structure

• Check for political sensitivities, as well as inconsistencies and redundancies in the narrative, themes, timeline, and character portrayals

• Standardize stylistic rules throughout

• Apply a preferred style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition, and a preferred English dictionary

This is one of my more popular services, and I often recommend pairing developmental editing and line editing, so the bigger structural changes are incorporated and applied at the sentence level.

Copy editing will include a customized Style Sheet, a reference for you that tracks style, usage, and other consistency concerns. This is in addition to sentence-level edits (for American or British English) that include spelling, grammar, editorial style, and syntax—all while retaining your voice. A copy-edited manuscript will be ready for typesetting.

Proofreading

Proofreading focuses on proper conventions of sentence mechanics and fixes basic errors in spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. Style and consistency in formatting are also addressed, so either a typeset work or a manuscript draft can be proofread. In the latter case, a proofread manuscript will be ready for typesetting.

Sensitivity reading

Even if unintentional, a scene, a character, or a word choice can be misconstrued, so you will want a reader who can parse those nuances and flag any potential pitfalls. This service is beneficial for books that deal with sensitive topics, like race, gender, culture, abuse, or politics.

Sensitivity reading will include an assessment and list of potential problems that appear in your manuscript. I’ll look at depiction of characters and their behavior, for stereotypes or tropes, and for offensive language, among other things. Topics can range and are not limited to these focus areas: 

• Feminism

• Cultural appropriation

• Colonialism

• Minority groups

• Chinese languages and dialects, particulary Teochew (Chiuchow), Cantonese, and Mandarin

• Asian identity issues: Chinese American, Asian American, Hong Kong Chinese, Singapore, diaspora, refugees, Chinese in Vietnam